- [Voiceover] Now let's look at how to compose the shot,where to put the camera in relation to the environment.First, the worm's eye view.And this is as extreme as it gets.The horizon is right in the bottom of the screen,the worm or the camera is looking straight up.The vanishing point is on the horizon.And when we go to the next view, we're up a few feet,maybe one foot, two foot, 10 feet off the ground.We see some ground very low on the screen.We'll keep going higher.Now we're at a bird's eye view.And as we get higher, we're looking down,the horizon goes higher.

And the worm's been captured by a bird flying in the air.If it gets dropped now, it falls.And we can continue this.The horizon goes off the screen.Now our viewing angle is even more extreme downwards.If we continue this process, now we're almost looking90 degrees down on the ground.So a typical average shot would put the horizonat around 1/3, either at the bottom or the top.When I say 1/3, I mean anywhere within like a certain rangesomething like here or this area.

Do not go grabbing a ruler and measuring 1/3 of the screen.By simply moving the vanishing point to one side,you can see we're already getting to suggestan interesting composition.And don't forget that anyof these camera angles can be tilted.We don't have to be at an exact right angleor parallel to the ground.So now, let's look at some of these angleswith examples of shots that can be built around them.First, the worm's eye view.We're looking right up at the sky.And this is an up shot of a scenewe'll be dealing with later on.It's a Martian invasion and we're looking right upat a giant robot with the UFOs,flying saucers going overhead.

And there's the final image.Here's another example.The employee is walking to his workplace.In this case, I wanted him to be dwarfedby the building and the boss's image.So a low camera angle looking up was a great way to do this.It actually tells you somethingabout the character relationshipbetween the boss Happy Harry, the worst name boss ever,and the poor little employee at the bottom.Here's a less extreme worm's eye view.And in this case I didn't choose this viewpointfor any great emotional reason.I just wanted to be able to fit in a lot of materialand do it in a really interesting way visuallyso we can see our two new characters in the foreground here.

I can see the bus sign and right away the former friendof this professor guy being hauled awayby the paramedics from the diner.So I wanted the ambulance, the paramedic types, the cops,the diner, the bus sign, characters,and on top of that, I wanted it to look cool.So that was a really good wayof getting everything into the shot.Now here's the same angle,but one in which I did want to use this anglefor emotional and personality reasons.And again, it shows the employee lower in the frameand the evil boss higher in the frame.

So it's, again, suggesting this guy is more powerfulthan this guy here.The bird's eye view in this case is, again,used for practical reasons.I wanted to have an angle that showed the characterdoing the talking or the ranting, and the relationshipand the reactions between all the people around him,including the frightened chef who's calling the police.Here's another bird's eye view.This time looking down at a sharper angle.And in this case, it's to show the cubicle firmand, once again, this is telling you something importantabout the relationship of the character to his environment.

In this case, he's like a tiny little pieceof the big machine.And it's just emphasizing the facthe doesn't have enough power in his life.And here's the down shot, the extreme God's eye view.And this is after our little character has been knockedunconscious by the Martian invasion.Now, these angles are not commonly used,but they're very striking when you do use them.Another really nice compositional trickis to take the typical 1/3 horizon.And when I say 1/3, don't go grabbing a ruler.

I mean something within like a certain, you know,a range of regions around here or hereor this side, for that matter.You then frame it with a dominant vanishing pointon one side or the other of the screen.And my old boss Don Bluth, loves this particular trickand has built many fantastic shots around it.So here I have created a post-apocalyptic ruined citywith most of the lines convergingon the far vanishing point.Now you can see already there are other vanishing points.There's clearly another vanishing point somewhereoff six feet to my right side, well off the screen.

So, of course, we don't have to have every single point,but it's the dominant visual one on the screen.This is the one our eyes are being drawn to right in here.On top of this, then I added other visual elementssuch as the leaning lamppost, tilting into the shot,and the power lines, these lovely-curved power lines.And these also createvery strong triangular areas of interest.So, we just add this layer on topof the original powerful layer,and we get a lovely combination.So when we drop our characters into these environments,we get a complete package of appealing actionin the believable and visually interesting space.

Now, I said before, don't be afraidof tilting the horizon line.In this case, I wanted to have an enormous robotchasing the tiny human, but it was driving me bonkers,because I kept running into the top of the screenand I just could not get the sense of scalethat I really wanted.So the solution was to rotate the camera a bit to the right.And that gave me a lot more room to play with.And it also gives a kind of cinema verite aspect,as though there's really a physical camera guy down theretrying to keep the action in the frame and he's following itand almost getting knocked over himself.And it's a good idea on boards like thisto have arrows shown in depthso that there's no doubt that the action is movingtowards us in 3D space.

And, you know, you might even have a second panelwith another pose of the guy runningwith the robot behind him really, you know,maybe his foot's this big.Another popular method when trying to createa pleasing composition is the rule of thirds.And this involves breaking upthe image into imaginary thirdsand then placing your major visual elements accordingly.So here I put the horizon line at the upper lineof the thirds for a bird's eye view.And here on the lower one for a normal eye level view.And, of course, you have the two vertical thirds as well,and you could place architectural elements or charactersalong these lines, for example, here a tree.

Now, I don't want you to start using thisas some magic guide to correct composition.It's just one of many classical techniques.And I don't use it very strictly,I'll, you know, put this line somewherewithin a range here or here,unless I really want an image to look classically composed.So you can eyeball these lines as long as they're,like I said, within that kind of, you know,furry little range here.Another Renaissance trick is to use some formof the golden rectangle or the golden ratio.You may have seen some version of the spiral.

I have friends who fill my Facebook feedswith images of the golden spiral,and usually it's transposed over a photographof a galaxy or a flower or pineapple or something.So I don't want to get to deeplyinto the mathematics of this,but I'll just explain very quickly how it's builtaround this formula of a square.So to construct the rectangle and to find the mean,is a fairly simple process.You find the midpoint of a square,then you draw a diagonal linefrom the midpoint to the corner.And then you rotate it.

This thing gives you the right side of the rectangle.This is the golden rectangle.Some believe that this isthe most beautifully proportioned rectangle possible.Now if all this seems a little bit mystical to you,well, it probably is.Many of these ideas were rooted in Renaissance magic.Nevertheless, it's a good trick to knowif you want to create a composition similarto those artists who use this technique.Now, when you look at the square on the leftand the rectangle on the right,notice that the rectangle on the rightis yet another golden rectangle.And this fascinated the artists of the Renaissance,because this division can go on forever.

Now, to the ratio itself.Look at the length of the line to the leftand the length to the right.That's the ratio.This is what it looks like by itself.Now, when I need to find the placementfor an element using this, which isn't too often.I'll use a graphic like this and scale it in Photoshopuntil it fits the bounds of the frame of the picture.So in this case, I stretched it from the top hereto the bottom and there would be this magical point.Now, I could use this to establish a horizon lineor any other visual element that I think is important.So by using another golden ratio,this time from left to right,I have found not one but two.

So this here would be according to this theory, anyway,a little compositional sweet spot.I overlay a background, I can put the horizon line thereor the window of a castle.And again, according to theory, this would be a pointof extreme optical interest right here.Now, just because we have this golden ratiodoesn't mean I have to slam the horizon line there.I'm an artist, I can make changes as my taste requires,so here I have nudged the horizon down.So now the only point of real interest will be this windowthat Rapunzel's going to stick her head out,then that's where she's gonna do it from.

And here I'm adding a dragon, because dragons are popular.And I want to remind you not to take any of these rulesas a written-in-stone magic trickthat will somehow allow youto create the perfect composition.They're beautiful rules of thumb,and their job is to get you near your target,not to hold your hands.So don't overuse something like the golden meanor the rule of thirds or your images will very likelybecome stilted and lifeless.So here's the image we'll be coming back to laterin the course and it's my little running man.So what I did very quickly was I just positioned himwhere the golden rule might suggest he should go.

And that's a pretty interesting reposition.So, even though, this is fine for the physical action,I'm not gonna change it in terms of the animation.If I were going to make a poster of this,I think it's a much more appealing position.So take that for what it is.When you pick up how-to books on painting,they usually warn you against,like a very strict Union Jack compositionwhere everything originates from a single focal pointright in the middle of the screen.However, somebody pointed out recentlywith a video on YouTubethat Stanley Kubrick loved this composition,and he used it time and time againto create some of his most striking shots.

So, it's one of these things where it may be not the thingto do in painting, but there are times,sometimes when you're making an animated movieor live action film where this actuallyis an extremely striking device.And here is one where I used it deliberately,myself to see if I could make it work.And I think that this does work.I think it's actually strongerthan if I had made it slightly off center.There's something about it that pulls your eye in.And I wanted to also, you know, draw people's attentioninto the chef and the waitress and the other customers,the whole environment.

And I think you do, I think you take inthe entire scene in this shotin a way that you might not do if it was off centerto one side or the other.Once again, this is one of these compositions,good to know about, don't use it a lot,it's one of these devices you would use sparinglyfor when you think, right, this is the timethat I want to use this tool.So to sum up, use the right composition for the shot.Sometimes it will be determined by the storythat you want to tell.Is your hero weak or strong?Or are they fighting an enemy bigger than themselves?Other times the camera viewpoint will be more functional.

I just need a down shot to show the entire stageand what's happening.Don't be dogmatic, don't have a single rule for every shot,be flexible, be adaptable,and use the shot that you think is right.Don't be afraid to experiment maybe with a different angle.Sometimes you'll pick the wrong shot,maybe you'll come back to it the next day and go,"You know what?"A different shot's better for that."And your rule can be broken, but in generalthe rules are there just to make sure you don't gocompletely off the rails.

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Released

7/26/2016

Storyboard artists tell the story of an animated cartoon. They illustrate the script, plan shots, demonstrate action, and maintain continuity between scenes. Becoming a storyboard artist starts with the foundations: an understanding of film grammar (including types of shots, acts, sequences, and transitions) and techniques for illustrating action, angles, composition, character, and drama. In this course, Dermot O' Connor demonstrates all these fundamentals and more, using a software-agnostic approach that combines theory with practical technique. Watch the lessons come together in the final animatic, and then download the free exercise files to start practicing on your own.